...............Martha Almon

Some Recollections of Genesis
(No reference whatsoever to the biblical book)
(Tennessee, Early 1940s)

All aboard for the Saturday Night Community Meeting at the one-room elementary school in Genesis! (It was the only meeting place of any kind there.) I climbed into the station wagon for the sixteen-mile drive on a gravel road from Crossville. The winding road went over hills, crossed mountain streams and threaded through the beautiful Catoosa Forest and Game Preserve. A few small homes dotted the road along the way. After I parked the car the young people helped unload supplies and get the room ready for the meeting. The Coleman lanterns were lit and hung on the hooks suspended from the ceiling. The folding organ was set up, and the Cokesbury Worship Hymnals were brought in. I let the tailgate of the station wagon down to give access to the three-shelf library, the first in the county. Both youth and adults began selecting books and magazines to check out. When this was completed, we went inside to share what had happened in the community during the past week. A hymn sing of favorites followed. Since there were no churches, and they were not holding religious services in the community, they asked that I have devotions to close the activities each week. I agreed to do this, but explained that I was not a preacher. One evening only four people had come because of the rain. Everybody had to walk, and carry lanterns to light their way. The four who came were all youth. They decided they needed to start home early because of the bad weather. We had sung a closing hymn when we heard voices and saw lantern light through the windows. An entire family of five came in. They had walked a mile and a half to get there. The Lord very plainly spoke to me, saying, “Give the devotions!” I did, with their consent. During the closing prayer I gave an opportunity for anyone who had not accepted Christ as their Savior to do so in their hearts then. After the prayer we said goodbyes and went home. The following Saturday night when I came over the last hill, the school building was ablaze with light. There was a crowd, both in the yard and inside. Horses and mules were hitched and a flatbed truck was parked in the yard. I was at a loss to understand what was going on. When I got out of the car a man of small stature came over and asked, “Are you Miss Marthy?” “Yes,” I replied. “Please come inside,” he invited. We all went inside, and I learned that this man was “Squire” McCoy, the elected official representing that section in the county governing body. He went to the front and said, “My grandson was converted in your meeting last Saturday and we’ve all come to show our appreciation and thanks.” From that moment on we had won the confidence of the people and made progress in working together to help them improve their quality of life. I reflected on all this and remembered how we had almost dismissed without the devotions and prayer. I learned two important lessons that night that I have never forgotten: (1) That God works in strange ways to get His work done; and (2) that I was never to judge the success or failure of anything in terms of numbers. --Martha Almon, retired Deaconess and Church and Community Worker (Originally published in Along the Way. Stories by Church and Community Workers in Kaleidoscope Ministry, compiled by The History Committee of the Church and Community Workers Organization, related to the Office of Church and Community Ministry, National Program Division, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, 1986.) (Martha passed away the night of April 26.)

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